Issaquah Dance Theatre

Committed to the art of dance for all ages and abilities.

"A good teacher explains ... A superior teacher demonstrates ...
A GREAT teacher inspires." ~William Arthur Ward

This page under construction- meet our additional our new teachers for fall 2011-12 soon!

      staff and teachers

Melissa Gould  

IDT AXiS Performing Group Choreographer.  Contemporary, Lyrical, Jazz, Tap, Modern, Hip Hop, Musical Theater

Melissa Gould is a graduate of San Jose State University where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Dance and was voted "Best Choreographer". She has been a dance teacher for studios in San Jose and Las Vegas where many of her dance troupes won National Championships. During her professional dance career she performed in Japan, Korea, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Guam and for Norwegian Cruise Lines. She is a Musical Theatre lover and has choreographed over a dozen shows for city theatre groups and high schools. Her choreography has been seen in several dance concerts, musicals, nightclub revues, fashion shows and choreography showcases. Her passion for inspiring young dancers led her to create youth dance companies in San Jose and Las Vegas with repertories including jazz, tap, lyrical, hip-hop, musical theatre and modern works. A dance instructor for 25 years, Melissa has students who are now performing professionally themselves in music videos, Las Vegas productions and NFL and NBA cheerleading squads. She most recently was a member of the dance faculty of the Washington Academy of Performing Arts in Redmond and is presently Artistic Director and founder of New Vision Dance Company.  Melissa is known for her intense dance style, challenging classes and entertaining choreography.

Jessi Jensen Children's Classes:  Tap, Jazz

Jessi is a current graduate of Utah Valley University with her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Modern Dance. Dancing for most of her life, she is a very accomplished and skilled dancer who continually pushes herself to be more dedicated and inspirational to others and herself as well. While attending Utah Valley University, she received a number of scholarship and honors awards for her hard work and dedication to dance.  Jessi had the privilege of being a member of Synergy Dance Company for all four years that she attended Utah Valley University. While attending school, she had many different opportunities to perform with a number of prestigious Modern Dance companies and dancers, that she feels have bettered her as a performer and teacher. In her spare time, she loves spending time with her husband, Kirk, and her supportive family. Teaching and performing has been something that has meant a lot to Jessi throughout her life, and she is looking forward to seeing what is to come in her future as she continues to dance and teach.
 

Miriam Landis  Ballet

Miriam (Wenger) Landis danced professionally with the Miami City Ballet from 1996-2000 and spent her last two years of high school at the School of American Ballet in New York. Her leading roles with Miami City Ballet included the Liberty Bell in Stars and Stripes, the Flower Festival in Genzano pas de deux, the ballerina in The Steadfast Tin Soldier, and the scotch girl in Scotch Symphony. She grew up in Salt Lake City and was a student at local ballet schools including the Ballet West Conservatory and the University of Utah concurrent ballet program. While in high school, Miriam spent her summers at the San Francisco Ballet School and The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet.  After retiring from Miami City Ballet, Miriam earned a B.A. in English from Stanford University. She worked in the publishing industry after college graduation while concurrently teaching ballet, and has taught at the Ballet West Conservatory, the University of Utah Ballet Department, Stanford University, Pacific Ballet Academy in Los Altos, CA, and eXit SPACE in Seattle. Miriam is also the author of the young adult novel Girl in Motion, about a girl who becomes a professional ballerina. She loves nurturing young dancers and sharing all the positive aspects of ballet training.

  Danela Lewis   Ballet Mistress, Curriculum Director

Danela is an accomplished dancer, instructor and choreographer.   She has trained with the Palos Verdes Ballet, San Francisco Ballet School, Joe Tremaine and the Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She has performed with various dance companies including San Francisco Ballet, Bella Lewitzski Company and the Henry Mancini Dancers. Danela has participated in workshops with Tandy Beal, The Moving Company, Alwin Nikolais, Joe Bennet, and Pilobolus. She has taught at various schools in the Pacific Northwest including the International School of Ballet in Kirkland, Olympic Ballet, served as Artistic Director at the Ballet Arts Center in Bellevue, and has participated in Artist in Residency programs.  Danela was a member of Dance Educators of America from 1975-1982 and provided movement training for the 1984 United States Men’s Downhill Ski Team. Her experience, energy and love of dance inspire all who dance with her!

Heather Meister Hip Hop

A Las Vegas native, Heather started dancing at 3 and has been in love with the stage ever since!  In her 'tween' years she discovered Hip Hop and trained under Stacey Petteruti, a well-known Lead Showgirl and professional dancer with many credits. This was followed by performances around Vegas and in National dance competitions, winning many first place awards. A cheerleader all through high school, she choreographed and lead her own dance group and started teaching for local studios. Shortly after, she and her dancers had the privilege of opening for Jessica Simpson in 2003 at the Cox Pavilion.

In her adult years, she worked on the famous Las Vegas Strip as a GoGo Dancer/Showgirl/Promotional Model and had countless performance opportunities dancing for the world's top DJ's at some of the world's biggest events in Las Vegas, California and Arizona. Her credits include Deadmou5, Armin Van Buuren, Bad Boy Bill, Robbie Rivera, DJ Skribble, DJ Irene, Eddie Halliwell, MSTRKRFT, DJ Crs?, APX1 and many more. This enabled her to gain 5 years of professional experience in Freestyle performance on stage, and some of the most action-packed years of her life thus far.

In 2009, she decided to hang up her GoGo boots and teach in the studio full-time. She has been on staff primarily at Summerlin Dance Academy (Las Vegas' #1 Studio) and Merluzzi School of Dance in Las Vegas. "It has been one of the most rewarding decisions I have made for myself," Heather says. "Dance was my first love, and Hip Hop is my heart and soul." She recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest in late 2010 and share her smooth street-style with the Seattle area. 

Alicia Parrish  Founder/Director, Ballet, Conditioning, Children's Classes, Certified Gyrotonic® Level I, II, Jumping Stretch Board Trainer

Alicia has been teaching classical ballet for over 16 years. Dancing since the age of 5, she studied in the Bay Area at notable classical ballet schools including the Santa Clara Ballet, San Jose Dance Theatre, Western Ballet, and the Oakland Ballet under the direction of Ron Guidi where by the age of 13, was attending company classes.   She trained extensively under Maggie Parungau-Ferla at Dance Theatre International, who gave her opportunities to perform and teach alongside the highest caliber of world class dancers and teachers from world renowned companies such as the Hamburg Ballet, Ballet Bejart, San Francisco Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Lines Contemporary Ballet and many others.  This is where Alicia first began teaching.  During this time she also studied with teachers such as Christine Elliott, Shannon Bresnahan, Rodney Gustafson, and Aturo Fernandez.  She has performed soloist roles in ballets such as A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Sleeping Beauty, productions of The Nutcracker and others where she was able to perform with wonderful artists such as Yannis Adoniou and Xavier Ferla. 

Deciding to redirect her life to focus on motherhood,  Alicia relocated to the Seattle area in 2000.  Noticing that the Eastside had limited opportunities available for those who would love to dance, Alicia founded Issaquah Dance Theatre and began to teach locally while attending classes at PNB, Spectrum Dance Theater and Ballet Bellevue. 

In 2005, Alicia’s love of movement drew her to train to become a certified GYROTONIC® Trainer under Master Trainer Karen Mullen, which in turn enhances her qualifications as a movement educator and allows her to work with dancers to condition their bodies outside of class and on a therapeutic level.  Most recently Alicia has returned to college to pursue further studies in the rehabilitative field.

In 2006 Alicia founded the collaborative Non Profit Organization, 'Eastside Youth Dance Theatre' and directed the 2006, 2008 and 2010 full length productions of "The Nutcracker"  here on the Eastside. 

Her teaching strengths lie in developing technically precise, dynamic dancers and intelligent movers, who will learn to develop a deep understanding of their bodies, a love for dance, and most importantly help her students hopefully grow to be responsible, good people.  She loves working with children and families, so this has been the focus here at IDT.   She is known for her passionate, inspirational and energetic approach to teaching students of all ages, and truly believes in helping individuals nurture their love of dance!    Alicia's most important and rewarding job of all is that of being a wife to her amazing husband and co owner, Scott, and mother to her three children ages 17, 13 and 4.

Scott Parrish

B.A., LMP, CSP, Reiki Master Teacher, Executive Director

www.issaquahmassageandbodywork.com

Elyse Postlewaite Ballet, Children's Classes

Elyse began her ballet training at the age of three in Santa Cruz, California at The Studio School of Classical Ballet. At the age of thirteen, she joined The Santa Cruz Ballet theatre, under the direction of Robert Kelley and Diane Cypher, where she was a participant for several years in Regional Dance America. In her time with SCBT, the company achieved Honor status at RDA. To further her training, Elyse attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet in New York City, Boston Ballet School, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle. At the age of sixteen she moved to Seattle and joined the Pacific Northwest Ballet School. While there, Elyse performed in numerous productions with Pacific Northwest Ballet including The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Hail to the Conquering Hero by Kent Stowell, Symphony in Three Movements by George Balanchine, and Artifact II by William Forsythe. Teaching all ages and levels of ballet technique, Elyse has discovered a passion for sharing her knowledge and love of ballet with children of all ages!

Rachel Randall Modern

Rachel was born in Biggleswade, England and has danced professionally in London, Ghana, Yakima, and Seattle.  When she isn't dancing, she is catching flying children at the School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts!  Rachel is passionate about dance, choreography, and making dance films. Her third dance film, “Green Triangle/Poopy Park,” done in collaboration with Nathan Vass and Joyce Liao was recently shown at Velocity’s Next Dance Cinema Festival. She is an alumnus of the Laban Center in London, and the University of Washington where she danced choreography by Martha Graham and Alwin Nickolias with the Chamber Dance Company and won the 2007 award for outstanding achievement in choreography for her work “Living Shadows.” Before going to college Rachel danced with two all Ghanaian dance companies while living in Ghana West Africa for a year. Rachel currently performs with Tessee George’s Dance Contemporary, and Cyrus Khambatta’s Phffft Dance Theatre Company. She has just started her own company, RandAll Dance, and is excited to be putting on a show in her hometown of Yakima WA. Between these three companies Rachel has performed in the Artopia festival, Beyond the Threshold International Dance Festival, Park Dance, and the Arts in Nature Festival. Other recent performances include performing in Santa Monica, CA, with Dance Contemporary, with Andre Feriante at Beneroya Hall, at the Meydenbauer Theatre in Chop Shop, and the Seattle Opera’s production of Iphigenia in Tauris at McCaw Hall. She is excited to be sharing her passion for dance with the community of Issaquah Dance Theatre!
 

Jennifer Schreiber  Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Children's Classes

Jennifer grew up in the Seattle area and has been studying all forms of dance for the past 20 years. She graduated from Oklahoma City University with a Bachelor of Performing Arts in Dance Performance. While at OCU she was privileged to study tap under Robert L. Reed, perform the opening ceremony at the 2007 Rose Bowl parade with Kristen Chenoweth, and take master classes with a few of the great Tap Masters including Jimmy Slide, Ernest “Brownie” Brown, and Arthur Duncan. She has performed and taught locally and recently returned from her second ship with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines where she performed as a dancer and flyer/aerialist.  This fall Jennifer has been cast as an official Radio City Rockette for the holiday season! 

Kyle Scott  Tap, Hip Hop:  Children's Classes

Bio coming soon, stay tuned!

Stephen Seo Lyrical, Jazz, Hip Hop

Stephen Seo, represented by DDO Artists Agency, recently returned to Seattle after working on his Bachelor of Arts degree at UCLA for the last four years. He has trained and worked with some of the world's best in jazz, contemporary, lyrical, hip-hop, jazz-funk, modern, and ballet. He has performed in shows all over including, Carnival: The Choreographers Ball, UCLA’s undergrad dance concert, Meyer Christmas Parade in Melbourne, Australia, and UCLA’s coveted, student-produced fashion show. In 2007, he started his own company, "FastCoLA,” which has performed at various functions through out Los Angeles including: Heartthrob at House of Blues, Tigerheat at Avalon, Hammer Museum’s Winter Abstractions, Anderson School of Management’s Spring Fashion Show, and Relay for Life. In 2008, he spent six months in Australia, teaching dance at Victoria College of the Arts’ Secondary School, a feeder school to The Australian Ballet Company. He has taught and choreographed for numerous schools and organizations all over California and Australia, such as: a full time dance academy for aspiring professional commercial dancers, La Quinta High School in southern California, Chico Creek Dance Center in northern California, NSU Modern in Los Angeles, Full Force Hip-Hop Company, and Melbourne Music Academy. In addition, he participated in the taping of a pilot for an MTV dance reality show "Dance Justice," and worked with Marguerite Derricks and Tovaris Wilson as an alternate dancer on Lifetime’s show, Your Mama Don’t Dance. He has also danced on Paris by Night and Van Son as a back-up dancer for Vietnamese pop stars.

Ron Smith   Hip Hop

Ron studied dance and performed professionally in Los Angeles.  He has choreographed piece for Carnival, Choreographer's Ball, Seattle Fashion Week, and Unrated.  He is currently the director and choreographer of ButchQueens Entertainment. 

Connie Stine   Ballet

Ms. Stine received her early training with Russel Fratto, Leon Danielion, Vincenzo Celli, David Howard, Fernando Schaffenburg, Wayne Soulant and Joyce Karpiej. As a Nordan Fine Arts Scholar, she received her BFA in Ballet and Theater from Texas Christian University, while dancing with the Fort Worth Ballet. Other professional credits include: Phoenix Ballet, Center Ballet of Connecticut, Arizona Metropolitan Ballet and Ballet Arizona. She began teaching thirty years ago in Texas and has taught in Connecticut, New York and Arizona. Ms. Stine was a Faculty Associate at Arizona State University for ten years teaching all levels of Ballet, Pointe and Pedagogy. In 1997 she began duties as Dance Chair at New School for the Arts and developed the dance program to a national level. Ms. Stine is listed in the 2000 and 2002 Who's Who in American Teachers, and was Artistic Director of Eastside Ballet for 22 years.
 

Dustin Levi Stewart   Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical

Dustin Stuart has been trained by today's most influential choreographers such as Mandy Moore, Scott Hislop, Bobby Newberry and had the honor of assisting Dee Caspary. His choreography has taken numerous high awards at events such as JUMP, LADF, and Co. Dance.

He was featured in the Music video "Do You Want Me?", and has recently appeared in several commercials and TV shows in the Los Angeles area. Dustin also performed around the world with Norwegian Cruise lines. He currently teaches at several studios both locally and nationally, and is very excited to bring his experiences to IDT.

Amy Thompson    Ballet, Production /Stage Manager

Amy Thompson was the Artistic Director of the Ellensburg Youth Ballet for seven years during which time she choreographed and staged many full length ballets including Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Giselle, and Coppelia. She has taught Ballet, Pointe, Variations, and Partnering for over ten years. She has also choreographed several musicals including Fiddler on the Roof and Brigadoon. In addition to performing in multiple productions, Ms. Thompson has worked backstage as a Stage Manager for many organizations. Ms. Thompson trained at the Washington Academy of the Performing Arts in their Conservatory Program.

Mary Thurtle 

Studio Business Manager, Instructor, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Tap

Born and raised in the Seattle area, Mary has been dancing since the young age of three! For 10 years she competed regionally and nationally, receiving various convention scholarships and awards. Mary graduated Magna Cum Laude from USC in May 2009 with a B.A. in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Cinematic Arts, and a Minor in Dance. While living in Los Angeles, she explored the commercial dance world in Hollywood and worked with and assisted various choreographers at EDGE Performing Arts Center, performed with S.H.E. Dance Company and UnBound Dance Ensemble, served as the Operations Coordinator for the LA Contemporary Dance Company, and was the Company Manager and Assistant Artistic Director of the USC Repertory Dance Company. Since relocating to Seattle, Mary continues to perform with New Vision Dance Company, the Mo-dazz Alumni Group, and as a guest performer for other choreographers. We are thrilled to have Mary serve as the IDT Studio Manager as well as teacher and rehearsal director for IDT AXiS Performing Groups. She is honored to be such an integral part of the IDT family!

Marci Vernon  Children's Classes

Bio coming soon, stay tuned!

Charmin Wray Children's Classes

Dancing since the third grade, Charmin began creating choreography for the neighborhood kids for talent shows and rainy day recess! Through high school Charmin continued dancing and was also a member of her school drill team. She continued to dance through college and earned a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Washington. She completed Anne Green Gilbert's summer dance institute for teachers, and went on to teach creative and modern dance in Seattle area preschools and elementary after school programs.

Charmin has been teaching creative movement, pre ballet, pre ballet/tap, yoga, mom and me and pre teen special needs family dance classes for the past several years, including ongoing substitute and summer positions with the Pacific Northwest Ballet Summer Dance Workshops.

  Jen Zmuda Modern, Ballet
Ms. Zmuda studied intensely in ballet under such schools as the Lake Erie Ballet School, The Rock: Official School of the Pennsylvania Ballet, CPYB, Deane Dance Center, Ballet West Conservatory, and the Sacramento Ballet. She performed annually with the Lake Erie Ballet and the Sacramento Ballet performances of the Nutcracker. Ms. Zmuda continued on to receive her Bachelors of Fine Arts with a Teaching Emphasis from the University of Utah Ballet Department. Once she received her first degree Ms. Zmuda spent time performing professionally. Feeling a desire to continue her dance education Ms. Zmuda attended the University of California, Irvine where she received her Master of Fine Arts with a Choreographic Emphasis. During her time at UC Irvine Ms. Zmuda worked closely under dance masters such as Donald McKayle, Loretta Livingston, David Allan, El Gabriel, and Leslie Peck. She has been awarded for her choreography of Reverse, My Love, and also received the rare and prestigious opportunity to perform with the Limon Dance Company at the Mondavi Center in Davis, CA. Recently Ms. Zmuda served as Artistic Director of j. Leah Dance Company in Sacramento, CA, and was previously founding Executive and Co-Artistic Director of CORE Dance Collective. She was Adjunct Professor of Dance at Cosumnes River College in addition to teaching at The Sacramento Ballet and served as Ambassador Director and Teacher at the Northern California Dance Conservatory.  Jen is also owner and photographer for Capture Zmuda Photography.

Reanne Rasmusson   Apprentice Teacher, Children's Classes

Anne Gutcher   Apprentice Teacher, Children's Classes

Alicia (Alli) Graf  Costume/Prop Mistress, Office Administrator

Margie Teman  Live Accompanist